Mediterranean Hegemony Road

The Minister of the Navy defended: "I think their navy is just right now! The influence of the Russian Empire in Bulgaria is increasing day by day, but its influence on their army is extremely limited!

Now that the Bulgarian Army is self-contained, we can't penetrate it at all, so mastering their navy is crucial! "

The Prime Minister asked suspiciously: "You mean, we have complete control over the Bulgarian Navy? But is this necessary? You know that the Navy can't be built in a short time. Does it take so much effort?"

The Admiralty said firmly: "No, Mr. Prime Minister, you misunderstood what I mean! We have no intention of training a navy for Bulgaria, and even if we give him a navy, they can't afford it!

as long as necessary. Just to have a navy with the Bulgarian flag to show up! The capture of the Bosphorus and even the Aegean Sea still needs to be done by ourselves! "

Everyone understood, and after all, it was the navy who wanted to master the sea route to the Mediterranean, and Bulgaria was just a target on the bright side, so as not to stimulate the allergic nerves of the British!

Nicholas II was tempted. Even if the strategic goal is the Far East now, it is not bad to master the main road to the Mediterranean. In the future, the strategic focus of the Russian Empire will still return to Europe!

The foreign minister, who advocated Europe first, then Asia, took the opportunity and said: "Your Majesty, the British are now busy with the war with the Boers, and the whole of Europe is stumbling them. "

The Home Secretary objected: "No! It's okay to support the Bulgarians, but we can end it ourselves, which is likely to trigger a new round of war in Europe!

The British are not fools, it is impossible to deceive them! Moreover, the Three Kingdoms Alliance will not watch our actions! "

...

In the end, Nicholas II rejected the proposal to start the Bosphorus Strait now. After all, the Turks cannot become strong in a short time, and the weakened Ottoman Empire has no courage to confront Russia!

However, the proposal to support Bulgaria passed, weakening the Ottoman Empire has been a long-term national policy of the Russian Empire!

The Ottoman Empire, with a territory of millions of square kilometers and a population of more than 30 million, was terrifyingly suppressing the existence of Europe at its peak. Now it has declined. How could Nicholas II not beat the underdogs?

As for whether Bulgaria will become bigger, this is not within his scope of consideration. Anyway, now Bulgaria has been tied to a Russian chariot and can't get down!

Backlash does not exist, politics, economy and culture are already connected to each other. The Russian Empire will feel pain when it leaves Bulgaria, and Bulgaria will have to consider the issue of survival when it leaves Russia!

Chancellor of the Exchequer: "So what can we gain from it now? Who can tell what will happen in the future. If we help the Bulgarians for no reason, we are now at a loss!"

Talking about the interests, the Prime Minister said coldly: "But now we are allies, and the good civil relations between Russia and Russia are hard-won, which is very important to the future strategy of the empire.

When we raise conditions, we must take into account the sentiments of the people. Many requirements cannot be raised at all! In addition, although we are still two countries, we have come together economically! "

The Prime Minister's words were unanimously approved by everyone. This was related to a trend of thought at the time - Pan-Slavism!

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Slavs living in Austria, Hungary and the Balkans, under the influence of the development of capitalist production relations and the French bourgeois revolution, raised the liberation movement of the Slavic nation, and Pan-Slavism was born.

Slavic intellectuals first advocated the study of the history, folk songs and folk tales of the Slavic peoples to enhance cultural ties and achieve political unity,

Work together to deal with alien domination and change the bullied and oppressed position of the Slavs.

In June 1848, the Slavists held a congress in Prague and demanded that all Slavs commit themselves to solidarity and cooperation to achieve equality of all nations. Due to the divergence of views among the representatives of various countries, no consensus could be reached.

Similarly, Slavic factions appeared in Russia, they praised the Tsar and the social system of Tsarist Russia, many of whom established correspondence or exchange of visits with the Pan-Slavists in Austria and the Balkans.

In the middle of the 19th century, the crisis of serfdom in Russia deepened, and capitalist relations gradually developed. The tsarist government was eager to expand abroad to ease domestic class contradictions.

The Russian Pan-Slavists took advantage of the early Pan-Slavist ideas that emerged in Austria and tampered with them to serve the Tsar. Their basic claim is:

1. Declare that the Slavs and the Russians have a common history and blood relationship, that the language and culture are similar, that the religious beliefs are the same, that they live adjacent to each other, and that they have a common destiny and interests, and that the Russian nation is the leader of the Slavs;

2. Propaganda that Russia is the "protector" of the Slavic peoples, and that the future of the Slavs can only be guaranteed by the Tsar;

3. The establishment of the Great Slavic Empire with Russia as the "allied leader" can free the Slavs from the domination of Austria and the Ottoman Empire, and finally achieve the goal of advancing Russia's European borders to the west and south.

These propositions conformed to the interests and needs of the Russian rulers, and became ideological weapons for the foreign aggression and expansion of the Tsarist Russian government. Therefore, from Alexander I to Nicholas II, support for Pan-Slavism and its movement became the basic national policy of the Russian Empire. !

Due to Ferdinand's butterfly effect, the relations between Bulgaria and Russia are now showing a good development trend, people-to-people exchanges are increasing day by day, and pan-Slavism has begun to grow, especially among the younger generation.

This situation happens to be exactly what the tsarist government needs! Everyone present knows that if it continues, after another 20 to 30 years, no one will be able to stop the establishment of the two countries: the "Great Slavic Empire" with the Russian Empire as the core!

Against this background, any attempt to undermine the relationship between the two countries is not something that Nicholas II can tolerate!

This is also the reason why the Admiralty will support Bulgaria's expansion into the Ottoman Empire, and it will be his own sooner or later!

As for whether Bulgaria will become bigger? No one in the Russian government would be worried, the size gap is too big!

One is a big empire with a territory of more than 20 million square kilometers and a population of more than 150 million; compared with a small country with a population of only 4 million and a territory of less than 100,000, the gap is really huge!

Even if Bulgaria grows two or three times, so what? Can it change the balance of power between the two?

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